Perfect Fantasy
by Kitty Seeboo
Summary: Sasuke, your eyes are special, right? Your Sharingan. So look. Look hard. And see through these lies. SasuNaru. AR.


**A/N: **Some of you may know that when I first began writing, I wrote for the Naruto fandom. I'm glad to see that my zeal for this fandom has returned. This is a sasunaru fic based on the recent events of the manga. What if Sasuke was trapped in the world created by the Infinite Tsykuyomi? What would he dream of? And how would he get out? Answer: Naruto, of course. So, I hope you enjoy this little piece. R&R!

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**Perfect Fantasy**

**Summary: **_Sasuke, your eyes are special, right? Your Sharingan. So look. Look hard. And see through these lies._

**Rated: **_T_

**Genre: **_Drama/Angst_

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Where he was now, was warm. Where he was now, was safe. Warm and safe, snuggled up against his mother's bosom, cooing and gurgling as she nestled and kissed him. A beautiful woman with gentle, dark eyes, and soft, pale hands. Then she would allow his big brother to hold him and play with him. Every bit as precious and beautiful as his mother, yet bearing the sternness of his father.

"_He's so little, Mama."_

"_Yes, he is. Be careful with your little brother, Itachi. Take good care of him."_

"_I will."_

This is how growing up should be. Surrounded by a mother's love. Steeled by a father's resolve. Saved by a brother's guidance. It may not have always been blissful, but Sasuke counted himself blessed to have this most wonderful home. A place to return to when the weight of the world proved to much. A safe haven overflowing with love.

There were days he would feel this sharp pain in his heart, something that no little boy should ever know. A sense of wrenching loss that would evaporate beneath the radiance of his mother's lovely countenance; beneath the warmth of his brother's smile; beneath the joy of earning his father's approval.

So where did this blond boy fit into his perfect life?

A loser with no outstanding talent. Annoying and boisterous. Not a person that someone of his caliber should be acquainted with. Yet, he still managed to draw him in. Azure eyes that captivated him. Hair the color of golden sunrise. A vibrant - if mischievous - smile that always played upon tanned lips. Not jealousy nor hatred chained him to this boy, but an emotion unnameable if not unmistakable. Something foreign and terrifying that only stirred when in close proximity with this Uzumaki Naruto.

Avoiding him was too much of a hassle since that brat seemed hellbent on seeking him out and challenging him, even though their skills were on completely different levels. If that was not bad enough, they were in the same class. Contact was unavoidable, and there was no way in hell that he – Uchiha Sasuke, a prodigy of the Uchiha Clan – would attempt to skip school so that they would not meet.

Second-nature it was to ignore the gazes of both the lovesick and the envious, but one glance from those eyes of blue floored him. Why would he not want to run?

There were days – though - where Sasuke bear it, would be able to easily ignore it. It was on those rare days that he would inadvertently teach him, or rather, if Naruto chose to watch him practice, that was his decision. Just as if Sasuke chose to slow his movements in order to feel the firm fluidity with which the kunai traveled was his own. (Hitting his mark with utmost precision seemed all the more satisfying with that distracting gaze upon him.)

Being assigned to the same team as Naruto was akin to being cursed. Haruno Sakura, graced with her impeccable memory and natural talent for performing jutsus, would still be no hindrance (even if she was rather annoying). Hatake Kakashi would be an excellent mentor as well, despite his irksome habit of being late. Naruto, though, even if his skills were improving (however slowly and awkwardly), was another story entirely. The only upside (which was equally a downside) that Sasuke could see was his unpredictable battle style.

A boy who could not even perform a simple _**Bunshin no Jutsu **_had mastered the forbidden _**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**_. Naruto was no innate genius, but his persistence made him a masterpiece.

"_Well, he hasn't had a normal childhood. He doesn't have any parents."_

The sorrow he felt upon learning this shook him to his core. If he did not have his family... His mother. His brother. His father. If they were all gone, then what?

"_He's so lucky!"_

There were days he used to think just like Sakura, but he had always felt ashamed for believing so immediately afterward. Could she not see how blessed they both were to have a loving family? Sasuke had scolded her harshly for her thoughtless words. Words that struck him so powerfully, almost as if he could empathize with Naruto's loss.

Sasuke may not have been the kindest towards that boy, but perhaps, every now and then, a little gentleness could not hurt. Even Itachi had taken to looking after Sasuke's '_first friend_'.

"_We're not friends, Aniki!"_

"_Sasuke, there's no need to be embarrassed of having a friend. No man is an island, after all."_

"_I would never be friends with that loser!"_

"_You should be more considerate of a person's feelings. This is why you only have one friend."_

"_...Stupid Aniki..."_

Was that the reason those eyes haunted him? Was Sasuke able to see the agony that burned within? Able to hear the way his heart cried out for the ones who brought him into the world and were now lost to his touch?

No... It was something more than loss. Something far more torturous and sagacious lied within. For what, Sasuke could not tell.

Not when he felt the cold dread of nearly losing this lonely boy and his own life in the Land of Waves. Not when he felt the hot fury of seeing Naruto beaten within an inch of his life in order to protect both himself and Sakura from Orochimaru. For someone of the status of a mere genin to hold his own so efficiently against a sage... Incredible. Though, Sasuke knew if his brother and the _**Chuunin Exams **_instructor, Anko, had not appeared when they did, it would have been the end of his... his comrade.

It was then he learned of Naruto's secret. Of the deadly demon he housed within him. The Kyuubi. Naruto, the sacrificial lamb, used solely to protect them from this monster, and – during the course of his mission – learned how to utilize the violent power within. How taxing it must have been for him... Yet, how wonderful he did.

Defeating that pompous Neji (and breathing new meaning into him in the process) in defense of the Hyuuga heiress, Hinata.

Defeating Gaara and, not only protecting Sasuke and Sakura once more, but the entire village.

His ever growing strength sometimes filled Sasuke with envy, but none more so than pride. Here's to the orphan who never knew the love of a family. Here's to the supposed demon who never had a friend. Here's to the hopeless idiot trying to play ninja. Here's to the oceanic eyes that flooded his soul. Here's to the hero of Konoha. Here's to his best friend.

Here's to a very awkward conversation with his mother...

"_Sasuke-kun, you like that Naruto, don't you?"_

"_Mother, I..."_

"_Of course he does."_

"_Itachi!"_

"_When will you be bringing him for dinner, then?"_

He had never seen Itachi choke before.

"_It's not like that!"_

"_Oh don't be so silly! Friends can invite friends for meals."_

And he had never seen a sly look upon his mother's delicate features before.

"_Unless Sasuke-kun is truly hiding something."_

"_Mother!"_

Thus, he invited Naruto into his home for dinner. Only his father showed some initial hesitance, but that faded beneath the brilliance of Naruto's smile and jovial disposition. He seemed to enjoy the simple but delicious meal, maintaining uncharacteristic politeness all throughout the dinner. It really was as if Sasuke had brought home a... The thought alone colored his cheeks. Only for a moment, though. Only until that wistful smile that played on those soft lips captured him.

A gentle face that he had never before witnessed. A face full of longing, but never bitterness.

Where did he belong?

_**Sasuke!**_

"Yes?"

"Hm?"

"Did you just call me?"

"Oh... Ah... No, I didn't."

Well, that was strange.

"Do stay the night, Naruto-kun. You can share a room with Sasuke-kun." Sasuke nearly gawked at his mother.

"I don't want to impose..."

"Nonsense." Itachi clasped his shoulder and offered the blond boy a soft smile. "Sasuke could use a friend like you."

"Aniki!"

Even his father held no feelings of opposition.

As embarrassing as it was, having his family approve of Naruto was quite a relief on Sasuke's part. He knew that some bigoted boneheads still clung to the belief that Naruto and the Kyuubi were one. To be able to show Naruto that he could belong somewhere, and feel at ease, feel a part of a family, was like having a weight lifted from his chest.

Everyone deserved a place full of love to come home to.

"Sasuke, your eyes are special, right?" Waking up to find that tanned face mere inches from his own, with the beginnings of a bizarre conversation hanging on his lips was just magnificent. "Your Sharingan."

The treasure flowing through his very veins. The gift of the Uchiha Clan which he had been bestowed the honor of awakening via their battle with Zabuza and Haku.

"Yes, if you want to put it like that. And don't get so close to me, Usuratonkachi. I don't want a repeat of that incident." What a distasteful way to lose his first kiss...

"So look. Look hard."

"What are you going on about?" When had that boyish face matured so handsomely? When had Naruto begun dressing in a black and orange jumpsuit? Why did he look so much older? This was not Naruto! It could not be!

This stranger's grip upon his wrist was solid, and those eyes... even more immobilizing than his Naruto's... "And see through these lies."

"Lies?"

_**Sasuke! Snap out of it!**_

The kiss they shared breathed sense into him, sense to realize that the life he was living was but a lie. None of these people - not his mother, nor brother, nor father – were real. Trapped was he in his perfect fantasy with no escape route, only to live the life that he had preferred. The life that he would happily seize if it did not decimate everything he stood for.

Slim, porcelain arms encircled those broad shoulders, allowing the other to climb atop of him, to save him from drowning in the waters of sorrow, to breathe the will of fire into his lungs and make him fight.

Utterly overwhelming was the rush of adrenaline that came with those tender kisses. Kisses that made his heart flutter and his pulse race. Kisses that cooled his feverish skin before lighting him afire once more.

They pulled him, pulled him from that hallucination, that fake world that ensnared him and tore him from reality; the fake world that dissipated into smoke and ash that swirled and melted. Ripped him from the young body that was no longer his own, and molded him into something pure if not innocent. Brought him straight to the person who desperately called to him. To the person he had sworn to protect.

For once, those blue eyes neither distracted nor frightened him, but comforted him in a way that was incomparable to anything he had ever felt before.

"Welcome back, Sasuke. What took you so long, bastard?"

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**The End.**

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**©Kitty Seeboo**


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